Caputo is among the highest paid commission staffers at $76,000 annually.

Commissioner Joe Knight voted against the request.

"He (Caputo) is not a county attorney," Knight said. "I think we're setting a bad precedent. Are we going to start paying the license fee" for all the other commission staffers who want a state bar license, Knight asked.

Commissioner George Bowman said he didn't realize the county paid the fee for staffers to obtain law licenses.

"I do not believe that that's part of our normal way of doing business," Bowman said. "We're picking up extra costs for this staffer, but we're not doing the same kinds of things for our other employees."